by Gloria Whelan

Summary: It’s 1907, and sixteen-year-old Julia Hamilton is excited when she learns of her father going to the middle east. As she has lived her entire life in England, she wishes for adventure and convinces her father to take her with him, although he is reluctant at first.

Julia expects adventure. She gets much, much more. She meets Edith, a woman who frequently travels in these parts and collects plants; Grahm Geddes, an English student, passionately (and dangerously) mixed in politics; and Paul Louvois, a French antiques collector who might be smuggling valubles out of the country. Julia must decide who she will trust and what she is willing to do.

I think: I liked this book very much. The writing was detailed but easy to follow, and the plot was intriguing. I had some suspicious about the result by the middle of the book, which turned out to be correct, but that didn’t really ruin the book.

I do love Historical Fiction. I find textbook history tiresome at times (who can stand all those confusing scenes of war?) but historical fiction can bring me into the story. So I was a little disappointed when there was no “Author’s note” explaining the history or similar thing at the end of the story. That was probably one of my only complaints about the book.

The other ones contain spoilers, so I won’t mention them, except to say that the so-called villain was probably one of my favorite characters of the book (and I didn’t think that person was that bad). Although that is normal, because I seem to have a liking for villains.